Hassan Sardar appointed head coach of Pakistan hockey team

KARACHI: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has named the former captain and the country’s legendary center forward Hasan Sardar as the new head coach of Pakistan Hockey team.

The announcement came following the congress meeting of PHF held in Islamabad on Thursday.

“The congress approved the appointment of Hassan Sardar as the new head coach of Pakistan and manager of the Pakistan Hockey team,” said Brigadier (retd) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar, president of PHF.

Hassan, who was earlier appointed Pakistan’s chief selector, replaced Farhat Khan for the position of head coach and manager. Farhat had earlier resigned as the coach citing family commitments.

Another former captain, Islahuddin Siddiqi has also joined PHF. He was named as the chief selector of Pakistan hockey team in place of newly appointed head coach Hassan Sardar.

Former Olympians Rehan Butt and Mohammad Saqlain have also been added to the coaching staff of the team.

“Both Rehan and Saqlain will work as coaches with Hassan Sardar,” the PHF president added.

Hassan Sardar, a former captain of Pakistan Hockey team, won the gold medal in 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. He also won the gold medal in the 1982 World Cup where he was declared the man of the tournament for scoring 11 goals.

He’s considered as the best centre-forward Pakistan has ever produced.